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Parks and Recreation 7×06 “Gryzzlbox” Recap

Spoilers Ahead

Gryzzlis a worst nightmare come to life. I’m already at times suspicious that mycomputer (an actual person behind it) knows how strange I am for rewatching my favorite scenes of a TV show a million times, so imagine if it actually did.

Episode Summary: On the last fifth episode ever, we’re once again reminded of the beautiful fact that Parks and Recreation is a show that emphasizes anything is possible. Tom becomes Andy’s agent in order to renegotiate his contract and give him the proper show life he deserves. Donna teams up with Leslie and Ben in order to take Gryzzl down for invading their privacy. April’s in charge of interviewing interns but she chooses to make a different call taking her one step further to figuring out what she wants to do with the rest of her life.

Review: The words of wisdom this week were brought to us by the ever so charmingly hilarious, Andy Dwyer: “if you want something badly, you’ve just got to believe that it’s going to work out.” Every episode of Parks and Recreation so far has made me realize why I’m going to miss this show so much. There aren’t many series, or at least ones I’m aware of which do such a fantastic job of pointing out that our destiny and our dreams are in the palm of our hands. There isn’t a show that showcases the importance of goodness prospering like Parks and Recreation and its astounding characters, and for that I’m nowhere near prepared for it to end. That said, “Gryzzl” was a delight to watch.

Alien invasions in Pawnee are pretty damn awesome, but their cell phones are ridiculously unrealistic. I sincerely hope that phones in 2017 don’t look that way because I’ll refuse to get one and bring snail mail back into fashion –okay, I’ll probably have one because I’ll need to tweet about television somewhere–. Moving forward, receiving a personalized box was the last straw for all citizens in Pawnee starting from Leslie Knope and ending with Ron Swanson.

Donna teaming up with Leslie and Ben was everything. Donna discussing her and Joe’s cute little nicknames for each other was everything. It’s always fun to see the group get back together and really fight for something. Both episodes featured phenomenally written scenes that left me laughing like a hyena. Donna using her work status to get Ben and Leslie a tour was fantastic, but also not surprising that Roscoe knew despite their attempts to keep their identities undercover.

What I found ridiculously adorable about Leslie’s cover is the story. It’s the fact that I feel as viewers, we’re all aware that their romance, no matter how forbidden was worth the risk. A story worth telling five million times in a million different scenarios – a story that would’ve happened, no matter where they were working and who they were.

April’s one step closer to figuring out her dream job, but she’s reached a point of interesting regrets. As we all know, April’s choice to join the Parks department may not have been hers, but the reason she’s stayed certainly was. It was beautiful to have her somewhat realize this at the end of the episode. After convincing Jen not to join the Parks Department because she’d be wasting her life away, she goes out of her way by pulling a Leslie Knope to find more interns for the job. And it’s after she does this where she realizes she actually had fun doing so. She also had fun convincing Jen to quit and possibly adopting her in the future. It was so on point of April to say that, in fact, I would’ve been so shocked if she hadn’t made the outrageously hysterical proposal.

Tom was excellent in this episode. I remember when I first began watching the show and I thought please take this character somewhere productive or I’m going to end up really disliking him. And I could not be more proud of the way his character has been handled throughout the seasons. After finding out that Andy only receives $100 a week for his work on Johnny Karate, Tom decides he’s going to help him attain rights and renegotiate his contract. And when the two of them fail, he goes back to beg for his friend’s rights. Tom’s sincerity this season so far has been exceptional. It’s fantastic to see his character really stand up for the ones he loves without ever giving up on them.

Although I can’t decide which part was my favorite, Ben Wyatt freaking out over ruining everyone’s lives like Ice Town was the cherry on top. As it turns out, since it was the day of the new Star Wars release, Ben’s head wasn’t entirely in the game. And Ron’s perplexity with the series was perfect – “is Star Wars the one with the wizard boy?” Genius.Luckily after a package was sent to his four year old, Ron decided it was time to choose teams and he turns to the one woman he knows can win most exquisitely.